New York, NY – January –, 2016 – The premiere of One Rhinoceros, Three Birds and a Pineapple and the company’s critically acclaimed Balkan Dreams will be among five works presented by Tina Croll + Company at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival, Buttenwieser Hall, Friday, March 18 through Sunday, March 20.

A pioneer in the New York dance community, Tina Croll is a founding member of Dance Theater Workshop and co-founder of From the Horse’s Mouth, the ongoing celebratory dance/theater production. Tina Croll + Company is a 2015/2016 Harkness Dance Center Artist-in-Residence, and the three evening performances at the 92nd street Y Harkness Dance Festival will complement that residency.

Five Tina Croll + Company original works from past and present will be presented at the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival, with a cast of more than 15 dancers.

One Rhinoceros, 3 Birds and a Pineapple (premiere). In her latest work for six female dancers, Croll rejects a linear narrative in favor of a more kaleidoscopic vision. Solos and duets are intermingled with a chorus swirling through in geometric patterns—sometimes causing havoc.

Balkan Dreams (2007 – five sections/Balkan Dreams) Originally an evening length collaboration with Zlatne Uste, a twelve-piece Balkan Brass Band, this piece explores the variety of rhythms and moods found in the traditional music of Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, and Rumania. There will be live music by Zlatne Uste on opening night.

She Rides a Tiger (2012), for six women to music by Arvo Part. This piece is part of a series of dances on the theme “Sanghe Shakti Kalau Yuge” (In this Dark Age Strength is in Unity).

Walkabout(1995) a male/female duet to music by John Cage. The piece is an exploration of complex rhythms, athletic and playful.

The Stamping Ground (2008), for 16 dancers, an investigation of group energy in movement and space using large groups. The work combines the choreographer’s ongoing interest in Eastern European/Asian folk dance forms. An array of ancient folk dances for women are danced in sublime unison.

The 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival, Feb 11-Mar 20, presents over five weeks the innovators and history-makers of contemporary dance. The 92Y Harkness Dance Festival is dedicated to the late Theodore S. Bartwink, long-time Executive Director of the Harkness Foundation for Dance.

The 92Y Artist-in-Residence Program is a partnership designed to support established artists and companies in their creative process while exposing the 92Y Harkness Dance Center patrons and students to the highest quality of dance artistry in New York City.

A pioneer in the New York dance community, Tina Croll is a founding member of Dance Theater Workshop. After graduating from Bennington College, Croll studied with Merce Cunningham, Erick Hawkins and Nina Fonoroff and performed in the companies of Jose Limon, Jeff Duncan, Jack Moore, Arthur Bauman, James Cunningham, and Judith Dunn among others. She established Tina Croll + Company in New York City and performed with her company at Judson Church, Dance Theater Workshop, the Theatre of the Riverside Church, Clark Center, and other theaters in the city. The company also toured extensively throughout the United States. More.

Tina Croll is also co-founder of From the Horse’s Mouth, the 14-year old ongoing celebratory dance/theater production, that has received standing ovations for its captivating story-telling and exceptional dancing, with rave reviews from critics around the United States About From the Horse’s Mouth.

“Tina Croll herself is an exquisitely calm, controlled mover, with the courage to be simple on stage.” (L.A. Herald Examiner).

“Croll is a quietly majestic still point, with a presence and a choreographic style that are the product of long, thoughtful and optimistic years in New York modern dance….” – Jennifer Dunning, New York Times

“Croll’s new work appeared full of interesting and refreshing ideas.” – Anna Kisselgoff – New York Times

“(Balkan Dreams) Croll serenely lovely, a 1960s adventuress who travels into the subject of spiritual experience and taps her feet in Balkan folk dancing… Nothing can quite match the joy of 11 brass instruments and drums blasting you to heaven, or of watching a line of men—stout and skinny, young and graying—grasp one another’s belts and whip through the tricky moves of the Kopanica in 11/16 meter, feet stamping and hopping, knees pumping faster than you’d believe reasonable. The audience couldn’t wait to jam with them.” – Deborah Jowitt – Village Voice

“(Balkan Dreams)… one of the best modern dance performances I’ve seen… a daring experiment in many ways.” – Robert Abrams